In an apparent admission that cycle route signs showing distances in miles are not meaningful to cyclists, the Department for Transport is proposing to allow authorities the option of using signs that show journey times in hrs and mins instead of distances in miles and fractions of miles.
Continue reading “Chaos comes to National Cycle Network signs”
The Transport Department’s current review of traffic signs has so far avoided any mention of the “m” word and is likely to be a failure. UKMA has therefore produced its own proposals.
Continue reading “Traffic Signs Review produces INACTION plan”
The UK Metric Association dismissed as “unrepresentative and old hat” the findings of an AA/Populus panel, showing that a large majority of AA members are opposed to metric road signs in the UK. (This press release was issued for use after 00:01 on Saturday, 2 August 2008).
Continue reading “Metric campaigners unimpressed by poll findings”
A sign showing kilometres on the route of the first ‘London’ marathon had its anniversary this week. For a century, it has pointed the way for anyone trying to retrace the steps of the original runners towards the finishing line at White City in London, where the 1908 Olympic Games were held.
According to Legible London, an initiative led by Transport for London, all existing pedestrian direction signs in London will be replaced by 2015 with new wayfinding signs. The enamelled monolith-style signs will have maps as well as directions and distances in “minutes”.
Continue reading “All distances on London pedestrian signs to be shown in “minutes””
A visit to the Republic of Cyprus earlier this year delivered sun, sea and snow, as expected, but also came up with a surprise. (Article contributed by Derek Pollard)
Continue reading “Cyprus measures up, and delivers a surprise”
An incident on 17 June 2008, in which a foreign lorry struck a low bridge near Cannock, the third such incident since April, has prompted the police and Network Rail to call for metric signs to be shown on all bridges in the area.
Continue reading “Police and Network Rail call for metric signs”
The Department for Transport (DfT) continues to ignore the clear advantages of the adoption of the international norms for road signage, namely the use of metric units, while potentially preventable accidents occur on our roads.
Continue reading “UK pays the cost of failure to implement the Vienna Convention”
A reader of Metric Views has drawn our attention to a paragraph in the DfT Traffic Signs Manual that allows distances shown as ‘yards’ on some traffic signs to be measured in metres. We wonder if this idea on interchangeability has spread beyond the DfT.
UKMA issued the following news release at 18:05 on 28 December:
